James Lawless

I thank the Deputy. I welcome this question. It is an opportunity to talk about the impact the SUSI grant can have. There has been continued investment and improvement with it but there is still more we can do. If we look at certain measures within the schemes and bands, there is an opportunity to go further there. Significant improvements have been made over the last number of years. In 2024, the…

I think the Deputy has got to the heart of the recent debate; he has actually nailed it. It is so important that with whatever intervention we make around fees, grants or supports, we understand what the policy objective is. Is it to broaden the net? Is it to give something to everybody? Is it to give most to those who need it most? Is it to bring into the system people who would not otherwise hav…

For the benefit of the House, let me recap on some of the measures kicking in this year. I will investigate with regard to the cohort mentioned. It is worth saying that the special rate of maintenance threshold increased this year from €26,200 to €27,400. All grant thresholds increased by 15%, meaning the highest threshold is now €115,000. I signed a statutory instrument about four weeks into this…

I thank the Deputy. We have had a few variations of this discussion over the evening. That is to be expected because there were impacts in different areas in different ways. There has actually been no funding cut to the apprenticeship system in 2025. In fact, investment through the Revised Estimates has increased by €41 million by comparison with the figure for last year. Instead of a funding cut,…

I do not have to hand a figure for LMETB per se. The overall system has received €41 million more this year than last year. What SOLAS allocates to each ETB is a matter for it. It is devolved from my Department and my control. If LMETB has a figure above or below what was expected, it is between it and SOLAS. The overall budget envelope for which responsibility has been devolved to SOLAS has actua…

My immediate focus is on fixing the problem but I hear what the Deputy is saying. The immediate response is to address the funding gap to ensure no courses are detrimentally impacted to the extent that they would not progress into next year. I have written to the chair of SOLAS to instruct that no apprenticeship classes be cancelled. Once this is resolved – I am confident it will be in the short t…

I thank the Deputy. There is a simple answer, but since the Deputy probably wants some details, I will tell him a bit more. I am very passionate and excited about the opportunity we have provided through the National Training Fund. There is a surplus in the fund of almost €1.5 billion and that has been accumulated through employer contributions over several years. The issue today is that it has be…

The question is a good one as to where it goes next. Before I answer that I will talk about the steps my previous answers were stepping through. We need to bring in legislation because the National Training Fund Act does not envisage the type of uses I have just outlined. I think they are important. I met with IBEC and other employer representatives on it. There is a general shared understanding t…

I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to address this important matter. He is correct that some of this dates back to commitments that were given last year. I am working through the issues. There was an issue with backlogs that arose over the last two years which are now working their way through the system. Apprentices who should have been out through the system and qualified are now a…

I thank Deputy McDonald. She has been in the House longer than I have, but she will understand that the budgetary process takes place in October, not June, July or August.

The budgetary process is under way. I am fighting within the resources available for students and their families for the best possible outcome across the board in all of the measures the Minister, Deputy Chambers, outlined, including SUSI grants, fee thresholds and the student contribution fee, along with the cost of accommodation-----

No figure has ever been produced ahead of the budget in any area of Government spending, and that will not change this year no more than any other year. That has always been the position.

Gabhaim buíochas leis na Teachtaí as an gceist seo a ardú. I thank the Deputies for raising this important matter. As the Deputies opposite are most likely aware, SOLAS is the State agency responsible for the further education and training sector. A key part of its remit and duties is to allocate funding to the education and training boards to deliver further education and training programmes, in…

I am not impressed with the situation either. I would prefer if we were not in this situation. Sometimes in politics, we have to play the hands that we are dealt. Sometimes we would prefer they were different but they are what they are and we have to make the best of them. My job as Minister is to manage the situations that arise. I have said no class will be cancelled. I did not say anything els…

You made some mess yourselves.

You would be dying for Opposition.

The joint Opposition.

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the terms of: (i) the Agreement between the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and Ireland concerning the Granting of the Status of Associate Member State of CERN, signed at Geneva on 8th May, 2025, and (ii) the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, copies of which were laid before Dáil Éir…

The business is an hour ahead of schedule.

Established in 1954, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, is an intergovernmental organisation that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. It is headquartered in Geneva and currently comprises 24 member states and ten associate member states. Associate membership of CERN is a commitment in the programme for Government and a long-standing national …

Gabhaim buíochas leis na Teachtaí Dála a labhair sa díospóireacht seo. It has been a worthwhile debate. I welcome the support for the motion from across the House. What is rare is wonderful. We do not see such agreement often but, when we do, it is something to celebrate. I thank the Deputies on all sides of the Chamber who contributed. I acknowledge the contribution of the scientific community t…

I appreciate the points Deputy Aird made about graduate medicine and graduate entry. There are commitments in the programme for Government to examine the plight of mature entrants. It is important that we scale up the number of people in these professions. A new medical graduate-entry course will start in the University of Galway next year and a new pharmacy course will start this year. A new dent…

I thank the Deputy for her question. Was that Question No. 3?

I thank the Deputy for her question and interest in the area. She is her party's spokesperson in this area and I wish her well in that role. I look forward to working with her across the floor in the coming years. Regarding students who are considered to be dependent at the age of 23, this is part of the wider student grant system and scheme, which is kept under continuous review. Every year, the…

-----with increasing thresholds. We will come back to that later.